Lancaster to Woodsville

Submitted by John Galt on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 18:49
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Trip Planning and General Discussion

Hi. I'm looking for information on the section of the CT River between Lancaster/Rte 2 and Woodsville. In particular, I'd be very grateful for wisdom regarding any of the following...
1) water levels -- places where we may scratch bottom, places where we might find rough water, etc.
2) portages -- how are the Moore and Comerford dam portages?
3) shuttle services -- any recommendations or idea of price for shuttles in this area? Are taxis or Uber an option?
4) camp sites -- any great ones we should try, or any lousy ones to avoid?
5) cautionary advice -- any hazards or tricky spots to be aware of. Any Class III or above rapids in this stretch at this time of year?
Thank you for any advice you can share.

Prijon

Mon, 06/10/2019 - 22:07

We did day trips on the Moore and comerford reservoirs. Both days were calm and we had no problems. On the third day we paddled from Comerford dam to Mcindoe Falls. We did the steep comerford portage in one trip as we had little gear. It is steep but you can drag on the grass and there are portage stairs. It would have been difficult to use a portage cart for most of the carry. Once in the river we had a good current coming at us. We tried to ferry and face upstream and made the wrong move and tipped over. The bottom release from the dam was very cold. We were lucky that it was May and in the 60's.

Prijon

Mon, 06/10/2019 - 22:08

We did day trips on the Moore and comerford reservoirs. Both days were calm and we had no problems. On the third day we paddled from Comerford dam to Mcindoe Falls. We did the steep comerford portage in one trip as we had little gear. It is steep but you can drag on the grass and there are portage stairs. It would have been difficult to use a portage cart for most of the carry. Once in the river we had a good current coming at us. We tried to ferry and face upstream and made the wrong move and tipped over. The bottom release from the dam was very cold. We were lucky that it was May and in the 60's.